Since Agnès Troublé, founder of the agnès b. empire, first visited Kyoto many years ago, she instantly succumbed to the city’s many charms. As if to reaffirm her attachment to Japan‘s cultural capital, the French fashion brand has recently inaugurated a new concept store in Gion, the city’s illustrious geisha district. Occupying a renovated historic townhouse, the store sees an interior design by Teruhiro Yanigahara Studio, an interdisciplinary design collective based in both Kobe and Arles that’s distinctly contemporary yet embeds much of the structure’s original architectural details. The ground floor is home to a charming café which is divided by a lush planted patio.
One side sees grey/brown-tinted walls that go well with the exposed wooden beams and the setting’s other timber elements, creating a cozy and secluded atmosphere yet ample daylight floods in by way of the aforementioned patio and open ceiling. In stark contrast, the other side is light and bright, and furnished with a communal table and chairs. The agnès b. café serves freshly made Overview Coffee concoctions and a menu by chef Atsumi Akihito, who trained at the double Michelin starred Auberge de l’Ill in the French Alsace region, and a dessert menu by Rihito Maruhashi, a multitasking pastry chef who, among many things, runs the local Camphora bakery. The café also exhibits and sells original cups and saucers created in collaboration with renowned Japanese ceramics brand 1616 / arita japan.
Interestingly, it’s here where Teruhiro Yanigahara, founder of the aforementioned design collective, has also taken the creative reigns. The inside of the cups and saucers is decorated with brand logos and iconic motifs, such as the lizard, stars, and the b. mark, as well as a handwritten message by designer Agnès herself. Last but certainly not least, a retail space is situated one floor up. The setting has also retained many of the building’s traditional elements, such as sliding doors, windows and wooden ceiling. The shop stocks a curated selection of agnès b. apparel, accessories, bags, small leather goods and jewellery pieces, including 31 limited-edition accessories crafted from shells and selected by the designer herself.
agnès b. Gion
570-128 Gion-machi Minami-gawa (Gion)
Kyoto 605-0074
Telephone: +81 75 3345202
Mon-Tue 10am-6pm
Thu-Sun 10am-6pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
